Alonzo t



Patented Mar. 9, 1880.

Hi o rn ey.

vN. PETERS, PHOTO-LIT'KBGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT EErcE.

ALONZO T. BOONE, OF OHlOAGO, ILLNOS, ASSIGNOE OF ONE-HALF OF HIS EIGHT TO GEORGE G. BENEDIOT, OF SAME PLACE.

UNDERGROUND ELEGTREG CONDUCTOR.

lSPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 225,268, dated March 9, 1880.

Application filed July 11, 1879.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, ALONZO T. BOONE, of the city of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful lmprovements in Laying and lnsulating Electric Conducting lVires, and I hereby declare the followiu g to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being' had to the accompanying drawings, of which- Figure l is a side elevation of my sectional tubular case inclosing the wires and the insulating substance; Fig. 2, a transverse section on the line y y, Eig. l; Eig. 3, a vertical longitudinal section on the line or x, Fig. 25 and Fig. 4, a vertical longitudinal central section of my tubular case, showing certain details of construction in the same.

My invention relates, chiefly, to the laying and insulating of underground wires for telegraphs, telephones, electric lighting, and the like 5 but the same means will often be found equally advantageous for use above ground, and, moreover, no change whatsoever is required where the wires pass along the beds of streams, or otherwise through water, my method being as fully adapted for this situation as where the whole is embedded in dry soil.

Telegraph-wires have heretofore been inclosed within tubular easings and embedded in insulating substances 5 but in every instance the substance or compound employed has been either liquid or wholly solid, the latter being usually introduced in a molten state into the trough or tube containing the wires, and hard ening upon becoming cool.

The respective merits of these methods are offset by very serious disadvantages. Among the objections to the liquid insulator are, nrst, its inabilityl to sustain the wires, whereby the latter, unless otherwise supported, lie along the bottom of the tube; secondly, the tend ency of the liquid to leak out of the tube at the joints unless the latter are made and maintained perfectly tighta matter which, though perhaps possible, must always be attended with great difficulty and expense; and, thirdly, that since the tubes can never be level throughout they can never be opened for tapping or repairing the wires without causing a considerable waste of fluid from the effects of hydrostatic pressure.

rllhe chief objections, on the other hand, to a hard or solidied insulator are, first, the diflieulty of removing it from around the wire when it becomes necessary to do so for tapping or other purposes 5 and, secondly, that when the substance has been so removed and the operation of tapping, or whatever it maybe, completed, and fresh melted material poured in, it is impossible to produce a perfect union between the new and the old, the contraction of the former on cooling often serving to separate completely their adjacent ends.

I seek, by adopting a mean between the two methods above referred to, to obain all the advantages of each with none of the disadvantages of either.

My invention accordingly consists in embedding the said wires in an insulating' substance of a permanently-plastic consistency; and it consists, further, in certain mechanical details relating to my tubular case for inelosing the wires and the insulating substance, and which distinguish it from other casings heretofore used for analogous purposes.

lVhile l do not limit myself to any particular substance or compound for embedding the wires, provided only that the same is permanently plastic in its nature and an insulator, l have found that my invention may be successful ly carried out by mixin g powdered soapstone or chalk, or any similar insulating substance, with a non-drying oil (parafne-oil, or crude petroleum of the heavier quality, for example) in quantity sufiieient to give to the mixture a consistency approximating that of soft mortar. A mixture of this consistency will not run, and hence there is no leakage, and no gushing out when the tube is opened at any point, howeverI low its level. On the y other hand, none of the difficulty of removing the hard substances above referred to is encountered in its use, for the plastic substance may be scooped from around the wires with the utmost ease, and without even abrading the cotton wrapping of the same, where such exists, and moreover, no part is wasted or lost, for when the required operation has been performed the same material that was IOO removed may be replaced, when it eealesces perfectly with the portions unremoved, forming one continuous mass, as before.

The plastic insulating substance may be used with any suitable ineasing-tube, or even (though I do not recommend this mode) with no inclosure at all, without departing from my invention; but in order to carry out my invention in a thoroughly satisfactory manner, the tube or casing should be adapted to open and close along its upper side, both to permit the original laying and packing to be easily and thoroughly effected, and also to admit of ready access to the wires whenever and wherever necessary. I have accordingly contrived the device represented in the drawings, which, I believe, possesses every essential requisite, and of which the following is a description.

A is a trough, of wood, iron, terra-cotta, tileclay, or other suitable material, in the form of U or V shaped sections, connected together at every joint by means of three strips, s, of any suitable material, one at the bottom and one at each side of the trough, each crossing thejoint, and being bolted or riveted, as shown, or cemented, or Otherwise secured at each end to the separate sections. Within this trough the wires t, preferably wound with cotton, are laid, and are embedded in the permanentlyplastic insulating substance o.

B is a cap or cover, which may be of the saine material as the trough, and which should be in sections corresponding in length with those of the said trough. rIhe sections of the cover B cross the joints of the trough, and meet one another at intermediate points, p.

O O are clamping-collars, surrounding the ease at each junction of the crosssections, these collars having meeting-flanges lr, as shown, bolted together, after the usual manner of such collars, and O O are similar eollars surrounding the ease at each junction of the cover-sections.

This construction permits the trough to be readily opened and closed in short lengths,

and also renders it fully as strong, and almost as close, as if it were formed in a single length instead of in sections, for all the parts are so placed and arranged as mutually to sustain one another, and the clamping-collars O and O serve to seal the joints with amply-sufficient tightness even where the tube passes through water, the plastic insulating substance being nearly or quite insoluble.

I am well aware that permanently-plastic substances have heretofore been named as ingredients of insulating compounds; but it will be found that in every instance such substance has been mixed with another or with others, whereby the plasticity is overcome before being used for embedding the wire.

I am not aware that a permancntly-plastic insulating substance has ever before been used as such, as above set forth, for embedding a conducting-wire.

Vhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. An insulating substance of a permanentlyplastic consistency for embedding an electric conducting-wire, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The method of insulating electric conductinghwires, and preventing rust and corrosion, and permitting ready access to the said wires fer tapping and other purposes, and ready and perfect reinsulation, which consists in inclosing the said wires within a tubular case capable of being opened and closed, and embedding them in an insulating substance of a permanently-plastic consistency, substantially as described.

3. rIhe combination of the sectional trough A, sectional cover B, connecting-strips m, and elamjciing-collars O and O', said parts being constructed and arranged substantially as ldescribed, for the purpose set forth.

ALONZO T. BOONE.

In presence 0f- P. C. DYRENronrn, JNO. T. Gnnimsnno. 

